Tatyana Ali & BET's Lauches It's 1st Web Series "Bubbies"

Tatyana Ali & BET's Lauches It's 1st Web Series "Bubbies"

For most people, getting an Ivy League degree provides a career boost. But when actress Tatyana Ali returned to acting after graduating from Harvard in 2002, she found it hard to get work in Hollywood.

Ali and her sister and business partner, Anastasia, contacted a friend from school, Julian Breece, who’d approached her years earlier with an idea for a television show. The networks passed on the idea, so Ali and Breece looked to the Web, with Ali producing and Breece writing and directing. Independently financing and producing the show gave them complete creative control, from writing in gay characters to casting mostly black actors.

On Tuesday, November 24th BET.com debuted the much buzzed about web series which is set  for a ten-week run. Set in the glitzy and glamorous world of the Black Hollywood, BUPPIES chronicles the relationship dramas of a group of slightly dysfunctional but inseparable friends as they navigate the tricky terrain of L.A.'s young black power elite.

BUPPIES was created and produced by critically acclaimed filmmakers. Creator, writer and director Julian Breece's first film was an official selection of this year's Sundance Film Festival. Just this year, he and his producing partner, Aaliyah Williams, were highlighted as part of IndieWire's "Top 10 New Voices in Black Cinema." Their production company, Game Theory Films, produced the series along with Tatyana Ali and her sister Anastasia's production company HazraH Entertainment. Tatyana Ali serves as an Executive Producer of the series along with producers Aaliyah Williams and Anastasia Ali.


Beauty brand CoverGirl has signed on as the inaugural sponsor of BUPPIES.

MEET THE BUPPIES

Quinci Allen/Tatyana Ali
Tatyana Ali is a Broadway-trained actress, singer, artist and honors graduate of Harvard University. Audiences best recognize the New York native as Ashley, the youngest child in the Banks household on NBC's hit comedy, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. She most recently appeared on Steven Spielberg's reality show On The Lot and currently can be seen on CBS's The Young and The Restless.


Priscilla/Robin Thede
Trained at Second City and Improv Olympic Robin Thede has been seen on numerous TV shows, including "Chocolate News" (Comedy Central), "Kath & Kim" (NBC), "Worst Week" (CBS) and "All of Us" (UPN). She is frequently seen on E! News Daily as a freelance reporter and heard on Jamie Foxx's Foxxhole on Sirius Satellite Radio (Channel 106) as a co-host on "The Voice of Reason."


Shaka/Ernest Waddell
Ernest Waddell is a NYU theater-trained actor whose television credits include Law and Order Special Victims Unit, HBO's The Wire, and One Tree Hill. He is also an abstract painter and musician.


Eliot/Preston Davis II
Preston Davis has appeared in several television and film roles and currently has a recurring role on HBO's hit series, "Entourage." A Los Angeles native and graduate of Louisiana State University, Davis also stars in the upcoming films, "The Brotherhood V: Alumni" and "The Prankster."


Kourtney/Chante Freirson
Chante Freirson's acting career straddles television and theater starting with recurring roles on NBC's hit A Different World and the Broadway production of Rent. She was most recently been seen in the San Diego Musical Theater production of Dreamgirls.

For more information on BUPPIES, please visit BET.com/shows